MY FIRST E-BOOK IN KINDLE

 MY FIRST E-BOOK AVAILABLE NOW IN KINDLE; 
PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO PURCHASE:

http://www.amazon.com/EMPTIFUL-ebook/dp/B00A8PZCZK/ref=la_B00AEXLNEK_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354174913&sr=1-1
 

THE TEMPLE

THE TEMPLE

In the midst of the foreboding night

You are born through the rapture of light

Your beauty shatters the darkness into shame

Like blazing coal glowing in scarlet snow

Your cry suddenly breaks silence into pieces

And the prison water unshackles you to the sky

Where the winds sing a lullaby of freedom

And fireworks fill the heavens with frozen sparks

Yet when I look into my heart, you are there

Still being born, basking in your eternal youth…

Commentary:

This poetograph is a visual and poetical commentary  on the Gospel this 3rd Sunday of Lent on the "cleansing of the temple" by Jesus (John 2:13-25).  It also reminds us of the Pauline theology of the human body:  "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit...."   (1 Cor:19-20).

I took the photo ages ago when I visited Greece.  It's one the temples in Athens.  Strolling one night, I was mesmerized by the sight of it glowing in the dark from a distance.   I thought of a sacred thing that was experiencing birth at that very moment... 

CHILDREN AT PLAY

CHILDREN AT PLAY

Time freezes as it watches children at play
Music listens to their symphony of laughter
While friendship dances wit its enemies
Malice and ambition melt away in shame
To give way to the rapture of pure joy
A fellowship in the ecstasy of innocence
When the poor become the wealthy
And the weak are turned into the mighty
A band of angels just left the heavens
Turning this earth into a paradise again.



Commentary:


This poetograph is a tribute to our children.  In the Philippines, the third Sunday of January has always been the celebration of the Sto. Nino, the baby Jesus.  This feast which is proper to the Philippines led to the festivals such as Sinulog, Dinagyang and Ati-atihan. 

In the gospel this Sunday Jesus said "Unless you become little children, you will not enter the Kingdom " (Mt. 18:3) and "Whoever makes himself lowly, becoming like this child, is of greater importance in that heavenly reign" (Mt. 18:4).


The photo was taken in one of our parish missions in Badian, Philippines.  When I saw this group of children playing along the beach, as if I saw a vision of heaven on earth.  I took a photo of their hands which speak so much joy and wisdom that the poem could hardly capture....